A piano teacher was found dead just 24 hours before he was due to be sentenced for sexually assaulting two schoolgirls he was tutoring.

Stephen Hallam, 62, was discovered hanging and pronounced dead after he had been reported missing.

Hallam, a piano, music and singing teacher from Prestwich , near Bury , pleaded guilty at Bolton Crown Court in May to four counts of sexual assault of a child aged under 13. The charges relate to two girls.

Hallam was due to be sentenced in court today (Friday), but was found dead in Cheshire in the early hours of Thursday. His death isn’t being treated as suspicious and a file is being prepared for a coroner ahead of an inquest hearing.

Hallam’s guilty pleas, which he entered on the first day a trial was due to start on May 9, stand as formal convictions, but his death means he will never face justice.

Three of the charges relate to a period between July 2010 and July 2012, with the other covering a period between March 2011 and December 2011.

Two of the offences related to kissing one of his young victims on the lips and the third charge related to him touching her chest. The fourth charge related to an incident when he kissed the second schoolgirl on the lips.

The exact ages of both girls at the time haven’t been revealed, but they were Hallam’s pupils at the time and it is understood that the sex attacks took place during lessons at his home.

Childline

Hallam, from Prestwich, advertised himself online as a piano, singing and music theory teacher. In one advert he said he also offered coaching for performing arts students ahead of auditions or shows and for music students studying for GCSE exams or college entry requirements.

The alarm was first raised after both girls contacted Childline, a 24-hour counselling service provided by the NSPCC, and confided in them before police were called.

Hallam was first arrested on February 20 last year. He was charged last August and released on bail after making an initial court appearance.

A spokesman for Cheshire Police said the body of a man reported as missing was found within bushes in the Preston Brook area of Runcorn in Cheshire. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 5.23am on Thursday.

In a statement, Greater Manchester Police said: “At around 5.30am on Thursday a man from Manchester was found dead in Cheshire. A 62-year-old man from Prestwich was found hanging in woodland near to Runcorn, Cheshire. There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.”

The Crown Prosecution Service is expected to provide formal confirmation of his death to the court when it is received from police.

Judges usually ask for a death certificate before a case can be finalised.

Court papers are then normally marked that a defendant is deceased. A date for an administrative hearing at Bolton Crown Court is expected to be listed shortly.